Torque-Based Dynamic Walking - A Long Way from Simulation to Experiment

Abstract

This paper presents methods that facilitate the implementation of dynamic walking on torque-controlled robots in real world experiments. The work uses the Divergent Component of Motion (DCM) for walking trajectory generation and control. The DCM controller is embedded into a whole-body controller (WBC) that produces a full-body walking behavior. While in simulation the combination of DCM and WBC is sufficient for achieving sophisticated walking gaits, during our initial experiments several real-world issues, detailed in this paper, prevented the original control framework from functioning. This work presents the improvements to the original control framework that enabled a breakthrough on the way to achieving torque-based dynamic walking on a real robot.